Watch Dog
by bon vivant
Summary: Lucy left Fairy Tail after publishing a best selling novel. A year later there is only one thing she still wants to do: fall in love. When she hires her old team to be her bodyguards during her upcoming book tour she never expects she'll do just that.
1. Prologue

**Watch Dog  
**A Fairy Tail Fanfiction

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me.

* * *

P R O L O G U E

_I'm gonna stay eighteen forever  
__So we can stay like this forever  
__And we'll never miss a party  
__Cause we keep them going constantly  
__~ Soco Amaretto Lime (Brand New)_

_

* * *

_

The contract lay on the desk silently calling out to her. She gripped the ink pen tightly between her fingers to ward off any nervous shakes. All she had to do was lean forward a foot, sign her name on the bottom line, and she would have what she'd always wanted. As soon as next month she could be a published author. All she had to do was work up the nerve to sign the papers.

Why did she even feel so conflicted? This decision should've been an easy one.

And it was an easy one to one degree or another. Lucy knew what she wanted—what she had always wanted—without a shadow of a doubt. However, a little nagging voice in the back of her mind had decided that perhaps this wasn't the best decision. She'd named this little voice 'The Fairy Tail Cheer Squadron' because honestly the only thing that part of her psych had going for it was her love for her guild.

"Come on, girl. I don't have all day." Regina Minx, literary agent extraordinaire, drawled. Lucy looked up to meet the eyes of the middle aged, red headed woman who was sipping on a bright orange cocktail while tapping her red high-heel clad foot against the wooden floor impatiently.

"Sorry." The blond squeaked out. "This just isn't the easiest decision."

"If it was an easy decision it wouldn't be worth your time. However, it is the right decision. Every want-to-be who has ever put a pencil to paper would kill to be in your position."

Lucy nodded unable to find fault in the woman's argument. There was no denying that she was very lucky that Ms. Minx was even giving her the time of day, but that didn't really make her decision any easier although it did give her quite the ego boost.

To be an author or to be a mage. Two paths that were vastly different, but that she cherished equally. She loved being on a team, and going on missions with her nakama. She loved the familial atmosphere of her guild, and she loved the relationships that she had built with its members along the way. She loved magic, and she loved her spirits unconditionally...

But she was completely enamored with the idea of being an authoress. Writing had been her first passion, and still remained her favorite past time. She feared that if she didn't sign the contract then she would forever regret not doing it. After all this was what she had always wanted, right?

Of course it was. She hadn't spent two years composing an amazing novel just for kicks. All along she had been planning for this day. This was a dream come true. Doubt shouldn't be clouding her mind. This shouldn't even be something that she had to call into question. Her friends would want her to do this, to go for it.

Regina tapped the face of her wristwatch. "I have a meeting in thirty minutes with the agency executives. Either sign the paper or get out of my office."

The blond teen worried her bottom lip till it hurt as she carefully signed her full legal name onto the last signature blank of the contract. The ink instantly soaked into the white paper, and sealed her fate. The blond dropped the pen onto the older woman's desk as her stomach churned uncomfortably, but an undeniable feeling of accomplishment and pride swelled within her chest.

Before Lucy could change her mind—not that she was going to—Regina yanked the document out of her grasp. The middle aged woman skimmed through the pages of the contract, nodding to herself as she leafed through it.

Despite lingering suspicions that she might have done the wrong thing Lucy was slowly beginning to gain a more firm conviction that her decision had been the correct one. She'd worked hard for this; this was the career she'd dreamed about and wholly deserved.

Ms. Minx slipped the contract down into a manilla folder, and turned her gaze back onto Lucy. The blond subconsciously sat up a littler straighter. Something about Regina's limpid blue eyes made her feel uncomfortable like the older woman was literally looking right into her very mind. It was an invasive sensation, but it also made Lucy realize why everyone in the literary world spoke of Regina Minx in such reverential tones.

"Welcome on board, Lucy. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure representing you." Regina offered the teen a simpering smile. "Be in my office on Thursday so we can discuss how we'll proceed from here. Proceed in making the Crystal Siege trilogy a jewel consuming franchise like no other starting with turning Warrior Soul into a breakout hit."

Lucy eagerly nodded in agreement. A keen sense of anticipation filled her. What would it be like to finally rise from obscurity to become a leading face in the world of novelists? Finally she wasn't the reader, but she was the read.

"Sounds wonderful, Ms. Minx." Lucy gushed enthusiastically. Her earlier trepidation was forgotten as her excitement about 'Warrior Soul' grew. Her work was going to line bookstore shelves!

"Call me, Regina." The red head insisted with false warmth.

A perfect fingernail painted in golden flakes tapped down on a button on the left corner of her desk sending down a sprinkle of glitter. An image of Regina's secretary, Venus, appeared floating translucently in the air over the desk. The dark haired woman was chewing on a piece of gum like it might try to jump out of her mouth and escape while she lazily tilted back in her chair working on the daily crossword puzzle in the evening newspaper.

"Can I help you, Gina?" The woman asked in a clipped, unusual accent. Lucy stared wide-eyed at this new development. It was fascinating to think about what kind of advanced magic must have been behind the technology. It was nothing like the blond had ever seen before around Fairy Tail most likely because the guild couldn't afford it.

"Always, though you rarely do." Regina pointedly replied.

"I try... Usually."

"Just get in here, and escort our new client out. Give her an access pass too. It'll save us a hell of a lot of time later."

"I can do that." Venus bobbed her head. A single dark curl dropping up and down between her eyes like a spring much to Lucy's inner amusement.

"Just hurry, would you? I have _a lot of very important things _that I need to do." Regina pressed down on the button again, and as quickly as Venus had appeared, she disappeared.

Regina turned her attention back to Lucy, "Secretaries. What can you do?"

Lucy nodded empathically despite having utterly no actual experience with secretaries. It seemed better to just agree with Regina, and anyways, her mind was kind of distracted with other thoughts.

In fact, the blond was so caught up in her thoughts about all the new factors of becoming a somebody that she'd let her old concerns about having to leave her life as a mage slip away. Everything, in her mind, circled around tomorrow, around being published, and around becoming a rich, acclaimed novelist.

It would take a while for the excitement to wear off, but when it did, would she realize that she'd made a mistake? Perhaps by then it would already be too late either way.

* * *

Erza carefully observed Natsu from across the room. The armored lady was all to familiar with the pangs of betrayal. She, more than anyone, could relate to Natsu's current predicament. Which was why she was so concerned as she watched him drink himself silly.

Partying was a common commodity around Fairy Tail, but she could easily tell the difference between when her nakama were having a good time and when they were having a sucky one. Her heart went out to the pink haired boy, but she doubted that her sympathy would really do him much good at the moment.

It had been six months since Lucy had walked out of Fairy Tail for good, and Natsu had yet to recover. The titiana privately wondered if the boy was ever going to get better. She had tried to speak with him. Gray had tried to reason with him. Everyone from Mirajane and Elfman to Levi and Jet to Bisca and Cana had tried to talk to him. No one had managed even an inch of success.

"Natsu is really starting to piss me off." Gray exclaimed heatedly as he plopped down beside her at the bar. "He wasn't the only one who lost someone. I mean... damnit."

"He's hurting."

"So is everyone else!"

Erza gave the ice mage a level stare. The only person who even marginally shared Natsu's pain seemed to be Gray, and Erza had a funny feeling that the only reason Gray was holding up so well was because he was focusing on bullying the shit out of Natsu.

"I'm sorry for you too. I know you miss her, Gray. No doubts that you're in pain as well." Erza gave her teammate a gentle smile, and patted him lightly on the back. She felt rather awkward doing so, but Gray seemed to appreciate it, and that was all the encouragement she needed.

"No, be sorry for her not me. I still have my nakama." Gray sighed wistfully as he beckoned Mirajane over to pour him drink.

"Anyways, I'm sure we'll see her again. Surely she hasn't given up on her old guild entirely." Gray proffered a strained chuckle. He was obviously trying to lighten the atmosphere, and grateful for his attempt, she gave a good natured eye crease in return.

"Surely."

At the time the two mages didn't realize just how prophetic Gray's attempt at humor would turn out to be, but they would be finding out soon enough.

**Author's Note: **It isn't the best prologue ever written, but it does its job well enough. I never intended to have a prologue, but after writing the first chapter I realized that you guys might be grateful for this bit of background information. However, since this wasn't originally planned to be part of the story, it sucks. I've written it and rewritten it a dozen times, and I still almost trashed it, but at last, I just decided to post the agitating little _thing. _

By the way I'm not published, and that part in Regina's office is me just bullshiting. I thought it sounded legit enough, but if you're a part of the publishing world, you're probably laughing your ass off it me right now. -face palm- I honestly did try. This wasn't supposed to turn out to be such an epic fail. I hate prologues.

WARNING: RANT! Prologues get on my nerves to no end. They aren't really a part of the story, but somehow still manage to be pivotally important. Hell, they can be set in a time period not even close to the actual timeline of the story itself, and yet, still matter. Like the stupid one you read above. You need it to better understand the story, but... it made the authoress of this story want to commit suicide. Prologues just suck! I can't explain why, but they do. Or maybe I just suck at writing them. Either way something sucks, and I don't like it! . END OF RANT.

Yea, the real chapters are coming up next, and they're much better. Scrumdiddliumcious, in fact. They're much longer, more interesting, and five times as killer as this prologue. :D

Review for half a penny.

xx. Bon Vivant.


	2. Of Anticipation and Blame

**Watch Dog**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

C H A P T E R . O N E

_Now maybe some would say  
__you left with what you had  
__But you couldn't share the pain  
__I said times have changed your friends  
__~ Far Behind (Candlebox)_

* * *

Someone was going to be maimed.

Or maybe not. Though at the moment it sounded like a good idea because she was extremely pissed. Not annoyed, that didn't begin to cover how angry she was, but livid. The blond authoress couldn't remember ever being so pissed in her life.

"I don't need body guards following me around twenty-four seven. I am not a baby, Regina." Lucy snapped at her agent, Regina Minx.

Regina impatiently tapped her orange high-heel against the hard wood floors. "This isn't an optional thing. The tour is going to be huge this year, and now that you're such a popular novelist it is of the utmost importance that we keep you under strict protection."

Lucy couldn't believe that Regina was going to force babysitters on her. Anyone who'd ever dealt with twenty-four hour bodyguards knew the pains of constantly having someone standing over your shoulder watching your every move. She'd always loathed having bodyguards around even for short periods of time, and Regina was proposing that she keep bodyguards for a six-month stint. An entire tour of having four oafs breathing down her neck!

It wasn't like she was some weak little girl. She'd been a mage for two years. She'd fought in intense battles. She'd rescued the weak from peril. She'd had her back against the wall, with death standing in her doorway, and still made it out with not only her life but all of her limbs as well. Hell, she'd even been a bodyguard.

With a track record like that she thought she deserved to be exempt from having to hire bodyguards; Regina apparently thought otherwise.

"This tour circles through eight different city-states, and is costing us more jewels than your worth, Lucy." Regina stated primly. "In lieu of this you must understand that, due to company standards, bodyguards are necessary. We're investing a lot in you, and we need reassurance that not a single pretty blond hair is going to be harmed. We don't want all our hard, all my hard, work to go to waste now do we?"

"I understand that, but—"

"No buts." Regina cut her off. "When you signed that contract you gave up your right to buts. This is how it is in the literary world. Accept it."

She considered continuing to argue, but ultimately decided against it. Regina wouldn't let her win, and the more she protested the harder Regina would be on her. Maybe if she just acted docile and humbled for now then Regina would hire bearable bodyguards rather than a bunch of men with more muscles than brains.

The blond teenager gave a resigned sigh, "Have it your way. Just get me some bodyguards that know the meaning of boundaries and personal space this time."

Her last bodyguards had been horrible. They'd insisted on standing close enough that she could feel them breathing, and they'd all smelt like moldy cheese to top it off. Not to mention the fact that they sniff checked everything she tried to touch for poison, and had tackled at least four fans a day that they deemed 'creepy' e.g. anyone bald.

"Don't remind me of _them._" Regina winced. "I thought we agreed that incident was water under the bridge. This time I'm thinking mages. You like their kind, correct?" The older woman reached for her glass of white wine which was sitting on the corner of her desk. Whenever Regina was forced to acknowledge a past mistake she immediately turned to her drink afterwards to re-drown the memory.

Lucy perked up at the mention of mages. She didn't exactly regret her decision to leave the mage lifestyle; actually, she was very satisfied with the choice she'd made, but all the same, sometimes she would catch herself missing her guild. Fairy Tail had been like a second home, and its members like a second family.

But it wasn't just the guild she missed. Magic had been something she had once loved. She'd given up her keys to an upcoming spirit mage when she'd switched lifestyles because she thought the spirits deserved use, but sometimes she'd think back and wish she could still summon up Pule for simple companionship or Loke for meaningful conversation. Her spirits, for a time, had been an extension of herself, and that connection was hard to give up. Magic and all its wonders were in general hard to give up no matter how rewarding being an authoress was.

"Get me mages, and I won't complain on one condition." Lucy replied without hesitation.

"Name it."

"I want Fairy Tail."

Regina's inquisitive green eyes narrowed. "You can't go back on your contract if that's what you're planning. You gave up on being a mage. Why does it matter what guild I hire?"

"I just have a lot of friends from that area. I don't regret signing the contract, and I don't plan on backing out on it, but I would like to see them again." Lucy earnestly explained. The red haired agent mulled things over for a moment, sipping her wine and looking over Lucy for any of the signs that she was lying, before she finally replied.

"Alright. I'll put in the request, but I can't swear they'll accept." Regina shook her head back and forth like she couldn't believe she was agreeing. Lucy inwardly squealed.

A bodyguard mission was probably below her old nakama, but maybe someone else she knew would pick it up like Levi, Droy, and Jet or Cana or Bisca... And even if complete strangers ended up taking the mission at least they would probably be able to tell her some information about things around the guild and about the people she'd once known. Either way she would be excited just to meet someone from Fairy Tail again after all her time away!

When she'd left Fairy Tail she'd intended stay in touch, but careers take time, and before she'd knew it all her old connections had slipped away. There were a few letters that she never found time to reply to, and there were a couple of calls which she'd been to busy to take and forgot to return, and finally, there was nothing at all. It was sad, but for the most part, she was too busy to notice.

Now though... Now she couldn't wait to talk to someone from Fairy Tail again.

"You're amazing, Regina."

"Oh, I know that, dearie." Regina replied. The two women met eyes, and exchanged sweet smiles. Regina sometimes seemed more like a well-intentioned older sister than a mean spirited alcoholic. Times like now when Lucy honestly felt the older woman cared for her somewhat beyond financial reasons. Then the older woman extended her glass to Lucy who just gave the empty glass a confused stare.

"What are you waiting for? Get me another glass." Regina snapped all manner of sweetest forgotten about as Lucy took the glass and scampered away to do as her agent had asked her to.

* * *

The ad appeared on Fairy Tail's cork board on a friday morning. It was a standard, single paragraph request for a team of bodyguards. No information was given except that that they would be guarding a young authoress on tour, and that the person to contact for farther information was literary agent, Regina Minx.

No one likes to play the part of bodyguard for uppity, rich folks while they gloat about how awesome they are on tour. No one paid much mind to the advertisement because no one planned on accepting the request. Let some idiot from somewhere else get suckered into the shit detail jobs.

Two weeks passed, and the ad garnered no interest, therefore, Mirajane thought it was time to take it down. Fairy Tail got a lot of requests these days, and the ad was just taking up space.

The gray haired barmaid approached the board, and untacked the crinkled sheet. Per usual she read over the request one last time before throwing it out—she had no reason for doing this other than a vague superstitious inkling that if an ad wasn't read at least once then the guild would suffer for their neglect—and was surprised at what she found.

Regina Minx. The name rung a bell. She'd heard the name before which was a little unusual. She didn't have any use for looking up literary agents, and couldn't name a single one to save her life, but this woman's name was familiar...

Mirajane stared hard at the two offending words trying to make a connection. She racked her brain, narrowing her eyes in concentration, then it hit her like a slap to the face.

Lucy.

More so the fact that Regina Minx was Lucy's agent. Mirajane distinctly recalled her last conversation with the blond mage during which Lucy had explained the choice she had made, and during which Lucy had mentioned her new agent's name, Regina Minx.

Suddenly all the pieces fell into place. A young authoress going on tour who was signed by Regina Minx placing an ad for bodyguards at Fairy Tail. Who else could it be? Now that she thought about it she was almost certain that the second part to Lucy's trilogy had just came out. She'd heard about its release from Levi who still read Lucy's works religiously. What was it called? Gypsy something... Gypsy Call? No... Gypsy Siege? Nada... Gypsy... Gypsy Soul! That was it.

Mirajane felt excitement bubble up from deep within her chest. It had been so long since anyone had heard from Lucy. Everyone would be so excited! They would all want to go on the mission, but of course, Natsu would take it because Natsu...

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest, and for a spilt second, she considered keeping her new found information to herself. They'd had their chance so their was no harm in just tossing it away. It wasn't her job to explain the implications behind jobs to people. She crumbled the paper into a tight wad within her clenching fist.

How could Lucy be so selfish? She'd hurt so many people. Natsu and Gray still occasionally moped around over their lost teammate when drunk, and even when sober all anyone had to do was mention the blond's name and raw pain would flash through the boys' gazes. Lucy had left so much heartbreak in her wake; she'd committed the ultimate Fairy Tail taboo, and abandoned her nakama.

Mira was sure that if the boys knew about this request that they would take it without hesitation, but she feared that they would only end up hurt. They'd see this as Lucy reaching out to them when really... Well, Mirajane was confident that Lucy wasn't wanting to come home, and that the blond was really just being selfish. The barmaid knew that if she told anyone about the mission it would get back to the boys and they would just end up hurt.

Yet, guilt griped her when she tried to toss the ad away. She just couldn't drop the wadded up paper ball into the trash. She wasn't their mother; it wasn't her place to protect them from the cruelty of the world.

Methodically she straightened out the wrinkled ad as she sit down at the bar. From her apron pocket she withdrew a blue ink pen, and wrote a short note at the bottom of the paper: Gypsy Soul tour with Lucy H. She read over what she had written, satisfied, she'd folded it up into a neat square, and placed it down in her pocket.

She'd give the paper to Erza. Erza was a smart woman, and the titania was kind of the unofficial leader of the boys' team anyways. Erza could make the hard decision, and Mira could rest peacefully with a clean conscience.

The barmaid looked down the bar for the familiar shock of dark red hair wanting to wash her hands of this unpleasant business as soon as possible.

* * *

He hated it when Erza pulled this shit. Surprise meetings in the middle of the night were never enjoyable, and in this case, they were even less pleasant then usual. At least that was Gray's opinion on the matter, and as the realist of their three man band, he found his opinion was usually the correct one.

It wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't sleep deprived, but it was two o'clock in the morning and he was functioning on two hours of restless sleep so, in other words, he was sleep deprived. It wouldn't have been so bad if Erza wasn't acting so weird, but the titania was nervously tapping his table top and fiddling with some paper so, in other words, she was being weird. It wouldn't have been so bad if Natsu didn't exist, but the sakura haired boy was avidly breathing heavily and yelling at Erza to hurry up and get on with it so, in other words, he was still unfortunately in existence.

The sum of all these things was a migraine—a pulsating throb in Gray's temporal lobes that refused to relent its hold over him no matter how many aspirins he popped.

"What did you call me out for?" Natsu demanded. "Do we get go on a mission finally?"

For the past two weeks their team had taken an official hiatus that seemed to be killing Natsu. However, Gray was enjoying his much needed break, and thought the only thing that could make his night worse was if Erza indeed had signed them up for a mission.

"Well, that's what I want to talk to you guys about." The normally collected woman sounded nervous. That perked Gray's unwilling attention. "Their is this request." She held up the piece of paper that she had been abusing. "It's a little basic thing, but I wanted to discuss with you two before I turned it down... It really is below us."

"What is it?" Natsu asked with evident curiosity.

"If it's so below us then why did you even bother bringing it?" Gray asked, annoyed. "Unless it's one of those missions that have vacations built in." He added as an after thought. Now those were his kind of mission. Missions with pretty girls and beaches and cocktails and casinos. Fun missions that didn't involve pain or dirty, sweaty work. Lazy missions involving lots of individual downtime were even better.

"It isn't like that." Erza shook her head to empathize her point. "It's a bodyguard request."

"Boring!" Natsu shouted. "I saw something about gangsters, and we should take—"

"Let me finish, Natsu." Erza snapped. She gave the pink haired boy a look that would give a small child a heart-attack. "It's a request for a team of bodyguards to protect a young authoress..."

"Young authoress?" Natsu asked, utter confusion clearly painted across his features.

Gray felt his heart drop into his stomach. He had already connected the pieces in his mind. A nervous Erza plus A body guard mission plus a young authoress... It could equal out to one thing. Lucy had placed a request.

Lucy...

The name brought back a whole host of unpleasant sensations. Pleasant memories that left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, and unpleasant memories of the past few months without her. Lucy had been the sunshine that had melted his ice and warmed up his entire world. She'd been an important member of his nakama... then she'd just left.

A fresh wave of raw pain washed through him as it always did when he thought about her. He didn't know why it hurt him so much, but it did. Losing her had been like letting go of an extension of himself. She'd been a friend like no other... Maybe, for just a moment, she'd even been more than that in his eyes.

And now there was this.

The dark haired mage looked over at Natsu—befuddled, naive Natsu—and, for just a moment, he hated Lucy. Not only had she made him suffer, but she'd hurt Natsu and Erza as well. Erza had suffered through the betrayal of another teammate, and Natsu had been left jaded by the realization that somethings, namely greed, were even more powerful than friendship. Lucy had grievously hurt them, and he wasn't sure he could forgive those who hurt his nakama, not even if they had once been his light.

"No." The ice mage said firmly.

"Gray," Erza begin slowly with the patience of a saint. "I think this deserves little more than a moment's consideration."

"What is going on?" Natsu demanded hotly.

"No."

"We need to decide this as a team."

"Then make the decision with me not to hurt our team! We don't need this!"

"What it going on!" Natsu.

Erza gave the fire mage a sad, sorry glance then offered one apologetic word, "Lucy."

Silence reigned over the group for a moment as everyone slipped into their own brooding thoughts. Group opinion of Lucy had plummeted, but unlike Gray, the other two were more open to letting her back in. They had hope; he had experience, namely Leon, that said teammates didn't come back once they turned their backs.

"I'm going to her." Natsu stated firmly. The determination in the boy's eyes was bright and inextinguishable—Gray also knew this last bit from experience.

"Then I won't let you go alone." Erza said.

He wanted to smash his head into a brick wall. He wanted to puke up his own guts. He wanted to hunt down Lucy and smash _her _head into a wall. He wanted to do a lot of things, but he knew, that in reality, he really only had one option. He just couldn't help it because loyalty was an ingrained part of who he was, and sometimes he hated himself for it.

"When do we leave?" He asked with a weary sigh. Yes, this night couldn't have been worse for the ice mage. Although it made him feel closer to his element than ever as the ice over his soul almost became palpable as he considered his next meeting with Lucy Heartaphilia.

* * *

The meeting room was a shrine to professionalism. The long oak table was polished till it gleamed; the chairs were dark, plush leather with high backs, and plenty of space between each; the centerpiece was a flower arrangement of roses colored muted hues of deep, subdued red; and the only decorations were expensive impressionist paintings. The place was obviously meant to house the rich and the intimidated.

Lucy was seated at the far end of the table with a mug of cinnamon flavored, warm milk beside Regina who was sipping a creamy white martini. Both women had small stacks of papers spread out before them. Regina was scanning over the documents with a practiced eye, searching for loopholes that could be turned against them.

"When will they arrive?" Lucy asked. The blond had been watching the door for the past twenty minutes anticipating the arrival of her Fairy Tail bodyguards.

Regina had received a call two days earlier that their request had been accepted, and the agent had immediately set a date for a preliminary meeting. Although Lucy was in no way required to attend the blond had been eager to come along, and meet whomever had accepted her request.

"Before nine o'clock if they want to be hired. We have an important lunch with the publishing executives at nine fifteen." Regina replied off-handedly.

Lucy nodded. A nervous thrill shot through her at the prospect of seeing someone from her old guild. She'd been curious about who had accepted the request ever since Regina had mentioned that the request had been accepted, but Regina had refused to give her any details—annoying, but expected.

The blond was startled from her thoughts when Regina's crystal mirror vibrated, and the tanned face of Venus Cruz magically appeared within the communication device. Lucy never ceased be amazed when the mirror did its magic even though she'd seen it a million times by now. Regina tossed the object an idle look, and gestured for her secretary to speak.

"Your clients have arrived, ma'am. Should I send them on up?" Venus asked.

Regina sighed. "Yes. Let's get this over with."

Momentarily Venus disappeared from view to, Lucy assumed, tell their 'clients' that they were free to head on up to the meeting room. After a brief moment the dark haired woman reappeared.

"They're on their way up, ma'am."

"Alright. I'll have you some more papers to file in just a little while."

"Wonderful." Venus drawled sarcastically. Lucy had came to realize that the dynamics between Venus and Regina drifted somewhere between friendship and mutual distain.

Regina broke the connection by tapping the mirror's screen then spun around in her seat to address Lucy, "When the clients arrive maintain your professionalism. I know this is important you, but don't do something that will embarrass us—" Regina paused when someone knocked on the door then continued in a much quieter tone. "both, understood?" Lucy nodded.

Regina turned back around to face the door. "Come on in."

With baited breath Lucy waited for the big reveal, and when the large, oak door finally did slam open the blond thought she might faint. She'd never expected them. Her nakama. A smile nearly split her face in half as she took in the sight. Natsu was beaming arrogantly, still self-assured and boisterous. Erza looked as stunning and fierce as ever in her armor plated business attire.

Then Lucy's eyes befell Gray, and her cheerfulness faltered. Unlike the other two Gray was not smiling, but instead, was brooding. His dark eyes were narrowed, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. Lucy got the impression that he wasn't nearly as happy to see her as she was to see him.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted with a beaming, mega-watt smile.

Her blue eyes turned back to him, and she tried to return his grin with full enthusiasm, but Gray's dour expression remained imprinted on her mind's eye.

"Hey, guys. Long time, no see." Her weak admit at a joke got a few obligatory chuckles from Erza and Natsu.

But a certain dark haired mage merely replied, "And whose fault is that I wonder?"

Promptly her heart dropped straight down into her stomach.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

i. I'm sorry that I've taken so long to update, but this time it wasn't my fault—not entirely at least. Every time I tried to update a document FF would just give me an error message, and then prompt me to log back in. I tried contacting the staff by e-mail; I goggled the problem to see if it was going on wide spread; but nothing I did led to a solution. Was anyone else experiencing a similar problem? I had to wait almost two weeks before, completely by chance, I tried and it worked for me. -sigh- Maybe I just have crap luck.

ii. I'm on spring break this week! I have a -Man oneshot to post, and I also have the second chapter of this story to post. Productivity should be up this week!

iii. You guys might as well get used to Regina and Venus because they're going to be sticking around. Since this is AU and completely departs from the path of the manga, I needed to make up some OCs to fill certain positions e.g. the people Lucy is associated with professionally as in author. Regina and Venus are my creations, and won't be going anywhere. They play a pivotal role as Lucy's connections to her new life where the mages of Fairy Tail are her connections to her old life.

iv. This is off topic, but who cares? If anyone else pissed with the twist at the end of the Kuroshitsuji anime? I finally got around the watching it, and I wanted to beat Ceil to a bloody pulp. Humph. That little bastard pisses me off so much! -hugs Sebastian-


	3. Of Folders and Cats

**Watch Dog**

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail does not belong to me. If it did there would be  
considerable changes. The main change would be a constantly naked  
Gray, and those pictures would not be PG-14. xD

* * *

C H A P T E R . T W O

_And I am giving up this game  
__And leaving you with all the blame  
_'_Cause I don't care  
__Could you look me in the eye  
__And tell me that you're happy now?  
__~ Are You Happy Now (Michelle Branch)_

* * *

Regina wrapped up the first half of the meeting with a flourish of praise for Lucy's upcoming book. She never missed an opportunity to advertise. Not even if the people she was bragging to was going to be attending every speech Lucy gave for the next month. You could never say too many good things about a good thing—at least, in her opinion, you couldn't.

From a third party viewer's perspective, Regina could tell that something was off between Lucy and the old gang. Her agent senses were telling her that her intuition had been correct, and that hiring from Fairy Tail had been a bad idea. Or at least hiring Lucy's old team had been a bad idea. The only difference was that she had been afraid Lucy would want to go back when the real problem was the fact that Lucy's old nakama didn't seem that fond of the idea of taking her back and that offended the young authoress.

The last thing Regina wanted was for Lucy to be pissed off the entire tour. She needed a happy, bubbly girl that would win any crowd over not a girl constantly pulled between wanting to cry and wanting to scream. Something would have to be done...

While Lucy and the body-guards-to-be read over the tour schedule, Regina carefully analyzed the group she was adding to her payroll.

Natsu seemed to be likable. He was a little loud. A little too in-your-face with the way he presented himself. However, he proved to be a powerful mage if his track record was to be believed, and he seemed intent on keeping Lucy smiling. Regina decided that he would be able to stick around. Natsu wasn't the problem.

Erza was a quiet woman, but it wasn't a shy kind of silence, rather it was an intense silence. Regina got the impression that Erza was very level headed and completely capable of controlling chaos. Plus Erza had red hair, and call her bias, but Regina liked red-heads by default. So Erza wasn't the problem either.

That left Gray. Sullen and angry with dark hair and dark eyes and a dark attitude. It was obvious that some bad blood remained between him and her client. Regina got the impression that Gray wasn't normally this way because everyone seemed a little put off by his mindset. He was the problem, but perhaps a fixable one...

If only she knew what had transpired between him and Lucy that had left them on such bad terms with each other. It was obvious Gray thought he had been wronged, but she didn't know much more than that.

"If you'll excuse me for one moment, I've forgotten a folder." Regina informed the group as she stood up. An amazing plan had just formulated inside of her mind, and now she needed to put the first step into action. Maybe Venus wasn't completely useless after all.

The agent exited the room in a few short strides, and immediately bee-lined straight for her hassled secretary. Regina slammed her perfectly manicured hands down on Venus' desk. The dark haired woman startled, tossing her pen into the air, and released a little shriek before realizing that her 'attacker' was her boss.

"Oh, it's you." Venus rolled her dark eyes heavenward. "Is the meeting already over? More files to torture me with?"

Regina waved her hand dismissively then leaned in close to Venus to whisper a few conspiratorial sentences, "Do a little research on the history between our girl and that dark haired boy. I want to know what I have to do to fix this."

Venus lifted a disbelievingly eyebrow, "You're asking me to snoop on Lucy? Regina, I think you should mind your own business. This will cause nothing but trouble."

"Please," Regina scoffed. "I know exactly what I'm doing. Now do your job, woman." And with that Regina returned to her meeting with a smirk in place.

Not a single person inside the room noticed that she didn't bring a new folder in with her. If they had of noticed that small slip up in Regina's deception then they might have saved themselves a lot of future drama.

* * *

The nerve of him!

Lucy glared at Gray for a moment then decided to pout before resorting back to glaring. She'd cycled through the same two emotions since she'd noticed the scowl the ice mage kept tossing in her direction: sadness and anger.

Of all people Lucy had thought that Gray would understand. He had been one of her closest friends while at Fairy Tail. The two of them had shared a mutual understanding that Natsu was annoying and Ezra was a force to be reckoned with and they were the normal ones. It was a tentative friendship at first, but toward her last months at Fairy Tail they had really been hitting it off. When she had decided to leave she'd always assumed that Gray would understand. Friends want what's best for friends.

He obviously did not understand. In fact, he was the only one that really seemed hell bent on treating her with animosity. Zero acceptance. Gray Fullbuster was ice cold. She seriously believed that the temperature had dropped twenty degrees since he had entered the room. It was that bad.

The blond took a sip of her cooling milk as she diverted her gaze back to the papers Regina had just handed out. The tour schedule was nothing new to her eyes. She'd already been over it with Regina a million times. The only reason she'd bothered to take the packet was because it offered a distraction from the irksome boy sitting across from her.

Briefly she glanced up when Regina exited the room. She wasn't sure why Regina was leaving—she'd been tuning the woman out for the last fifteen minutes—but she was sure that the woman would be right back. Regina wouldn't abandon her to the wolves when she was just starting to really bring in the big money.

"Hey, Lucy." Natsu cheerfully greeted from across the table. Lucy offered the dragon slayer a plastic smile. She was in no mood for conversation.

"Hey." She replied rather dryly.

"I forgot to tell you that Happy sent his best wishes." Natsu informed her.

"That was nice of him." Lucy felt her mood lift a little. She'd forgotten all about the little blue cat! Happy was always amusing—frequently annoying also, but whatever. "Where is he anyways?"

"Out in the lobby. That one chick wouldn't let him in!" Natsu declared the last bit while tossing an indignant glare at the door. Lucy rolled her eyes. She should have figured that Happy wouldn't be allowed upstairs.

"Regina has 'allergies'." Lucy supplied, putting air-quotes around allergies. As far as she was aware Regina wasn't actually allergic to anything, but the red-head was a bit of a hypochondriac when it came to allergies and had managed to honestly convince herself that she was allergic to everything from cats to fish to dust to every medication known to man that didn't cure hangovers. It was kind of ridiculous.

"But Happy will be able to come on the tour with us? He has to! He's nakama!" Natsu suddenly seemed very worried. The authoress fought back the urge to giggle at how quickly Natsu's feathers could get ruffled about something when his nakama were involved.

"He'll be able to come." Lucy's eye-crease smile was honest. Natsu had a way of cheering her up, and even Gray's stormy attitude couldn't detract from Natsu's honest ardor.

"Great." A certain black haired boy muttered darkly.

The other three teens in the room tossed Gray a sharp look. Natsu opened his mouth to launch a defense for his companion and to demand to know what Gray's problem was. Before the sakura haired boy could get started Regina strutted back into the conference room.

"No fighting, kids." The red-head snapped impatiently as she tapped the face of her wristwatch. "I just don't have the time for it."

And the meeting resumed.

* * *

Gray had never been so happy to get out of a room. Sitting across from Lucy for nearly an hour had been the most torturous thing he'd ever had to endure. He wanted to be angry with her, but seeing her sitting there so beautiful and happy and successful, made being angry hard.

_She abandoned her nakama. _He told himself, and, when that didn't properly spark his ire, he would add, _She abandoned you. _That last part got him every time.

Although he refused to admit that he ever had those kind of feelings for Lucy, he would admit that he had been extremely close to her. He'd opened himself up to her. He'd allowed her to see the injured and bruised parts of his soul that few others got to see. He'd held her in the same esteem that he held Natsu and Ezra, his earliest friends at Fairy Tail.

To think that she'd thrown his trust away was so painful. He acquainted it to that feeling he had while fighting Leon—a feeling of mourning tinged with a deep disgust. It wasn't the fact that she had pursued her dreams that irked him; it was the fact that she had betrayed her guild, and those precious bonds she had formed there.

Gray could never forgive a traitor.

So when the meeting ended he didn't dilly dally to chat, but made an immediate escape to the lobby. The moment he exited the room his heart felt lighter. It was easier to endure this job and maintain his anger when he wasn't looking at Lucy.

The ice mage slouched across the upstairs lobby, and down the stairs to the glass walled room where Happy was waiting. The blue cat was perched in the center of a low laying table, and was surrounded by an array of brightly colored tabloids.

"Hey Happy." Gray greeted as the dark haired mage plopped down in one of the plastic chairs that circled the table. He figured it would take Ezra and Natsu a good thirty minutes to ever make it down the stairs.

"Aye!" The cat lifted a paw then seemed to think of something for Happy rapidly flipped through a few pages before thrusting the tabloid into Gray's face. "Look Lucy is in a magazine, and she looks hot!" The feline exclaimed very enthusiastically.

Gray leaned back away from the magazine intending to ignore whatever picture Happy was talking about, but instead he got an eyeful of tan skin and golden hair. She did look beautiful... She always had, but the picture really accentuated how classy and professional she could look. Hardly any skin was bared(unlike her usual outfits around the guild had flaunted her flawless chest and legs—yes, he'd noticed. What red blooded male didn't?)and she looked better than ever in his eyes.

"Happy get it out of my face." Gray snapped irritably. "I really don't care."

"But she's sooo pretty!" The cat cooed excitedly.

Gray rolled his eyes, "She was always pretty, Happy. That isn't anything new."

The blue cat's lips curved into a devious smirk, and Gray immediately wanted to eat his words. The last thing the ice mage needed was Happy running around with those ideas in his head because just like Natsu, Happy couldn't keep quiet about anything.

"I didn't mean it like that. So just don't do whatever you're thinking about doing." Gray warned the feline. "I'm serious, Happy. I'll freeze your ass, and sell your newly created ice sculpture to some crazy cat lady."

"I wasn't thinking of doing anything." Happy denied. "I was just thinking that Gray's little crush on Lucy never got better. Have trouble being mad at her?"

"No. She abandoned her guild, and I want nothing to do with her. Anyways, I never had a crush on her in the first place."

"That's why you were always talking about her and trying to protect her and buying her presents, and, of course, watching her walk from behind. Nice view?"

"I didn't do anything of the sort. You're an idiot." Gray growled. He grabbed up a magazine from Happy's circle, and decided to ignore the cat from this moment on.

"Aye. Thou doth protest too much me thinks." Happy sing-songed.

Gray rethought his earlier resolve to ignore the cat... Maybe he'd choke the stupid little bastard to death instead...

* * *

Surprisingly Natsu and Ezra didn't stick around to chat with Lucy either. Their reasoning was quite different than Gray's though. It wasn't because they were holding anything against the authoress. They were actually perfectly content to let Lucy follow her dream. Even Natsu, who had been so hurt by her departure, accepted that Lucy was only doing what Lucy had to do to be happy.

They had ditched the blonde because they were collectively worried about Gray. They'd informed Lucy that they were going to check on the dark haired boy, and then they'd fled the scene. Something was obviously really, really bothering Gray.

Ezra was beginning to think that taking this mission was a bad idea. She didn't want to see Gray hurting anymore especially after watching his pain slowly begin to finally ebb away in the recent months. This mission was rubbing salt in the poor boy's wounds.

"Maybe we should consider asking Gray to stay back on this one." Ezra proposed quietly as she and Natsu walked down the stairs.

Contrary to popular belief Natsu was not stupid. When it came to his nakama no one was better to turn to for advice. Ezra knew that Natsu spent a lot of time learning what made his teammates tick, and that he would know what Gray needed before she would. The sakura haired boy was an amazing friend like that.

And now he was shaking his head in a firm negative. "Gray needs to work this out on his own." Natsu said with a little frown. "If we interfere it'll only make things worse. I know how Gray is. If he feels like we're trying to protect him then he'll purposefully fuck things up for himself just to spite us and prove to himself that he can handle it."

"The crazy boy." Ezra groaned. "Everything would be so much easier if he would just acknowledge the obvious and then get over it."

"Tell me about it." Natsu agreed under his breath as the two of them stepped into the lobby with wide smiles. Natsu's grin quickly transformed into a scowl of anger.

"Gray leave Happy alone!" Natsu shouted lunging at his dark haired teammate who was repeatedly whacking his cat with a magazine. The two boys went sprawling into the floor in a heap of entangled, thrashing limbs. The titania rushed into action, and ran forward to attempt to yank the two apart.

_Some things never change. _Ezra thought as her hands connected with their shoulders and Natsu's fist connected with Gray's jaw and Gray's elbow connected with her abdomen.

* * *

Lucy watched as her old teammates filed out of the room before she turned her attention on Regina. Her agent was slipping the signed contracts into a manilla folder while she hummed a chipper rock melody. The humming was never a good sign; it meant that Regina was up to something.

But presently Lucy was too emotionally worn out from the encounter with her old teammates to question the red haired woman. It would probably just turn out to be something stupid and unrelated anyways.

So instead Lucy inquired about their lunch date, "Is this going to take a long time? Because I really want to go home to catch a little sleep before this tour takes off on Monday."

"A couple of hours."

"Ugh! I don't want to sit through another meeting." The blonde whined. "Can't I just sit out on this one?"

"No. This meeting isn't optional. The one we just finished was, and the fact that you had to sit through it is your own fault." Regina replied as she unsnapped the clasps on her briefcase, and dropped the folder into its dark depths.

"I was hoping that this meeting was going to go a little better." Lucy muttered darkly. The authoress clenched her fist tight around her empty cup. "Gray is such a dick."

"Follow me." Regina instructed as she closed her briefcase, and started walking toward the door of the conference room. "What happened between you and Gray anyways?" The agent curiously asked as the two of them made their way into the lobby. Regina deposited her folder on Venus' desk without a word, and continued on her way. Lucy sit her cup on Venus' desk than followed after Regina.

"Nothing. He's just being an immature bastard. I thought we were friends, but obviously Gray doesn't understand the simple fact that friends have to support friends."

"So this is all his fault?"

"Oh yes."

"Interesting." Regina replied.

Although her tone was quite nonchalant, the red haired woman was actually carefully considering Lucy's replies. It wasn't like the blonde teen to be so childish. Lucy usually accepted partial blame just to be nice even when an incident really wasn't her fault. The fact that Lucy refused to acknowledge her own part in the problem was an interesting development indeed. Perhaps this was going to be more difficult that she'd originally thought.

* * *

Venus told herself that she was just following orders. She didn't like the orders, but she had to do what she had to do. After all Regina was her boss and Regina did sign her paychecks so if Regina wanted her to snoop into Lucy's business than she would.

The dark haired secretary flipped through her card index of contacts. When Regina had went through her first divorce the woman had ordered Venus to find dirt on her soon to be ex-husband. Venus had hired a private investigator known simply to his clients as The Doctor. Now she had a new job for him if only she could find his...

Success!

Regina picked up the card, and sit it down beside the magical mirror. She carefully tapped out the correct code onto the mirror's pristine surface, and watched as the glass rippled. The image of herself dissolved away, and was replaced by blackness. Normally a face would appear, but with The Doctor there was only that impersonal blackness.

"Am I speaking to Venus?" A voice rasped from the other side of the mirror.

"The one and only." She promptly replied as she idly flipped through the card index to find the slot in which to return the card. "I have a job for you."

"And you remember my fee?"

"75,000 Jewels down. That won't be problem." The shocking price tag wasn't that big of a deal to someone like Regina who had more Jewels than she knew what to do with. Venus knew that the red headed woman would never even notice the deduction from her back account if Venus didn't point it out.

"Than what kind of work do you have for me?"

"I need you to investigate the history between Gray Fullbuster and Lucy."

"That one authoress girl." The Doctor clarified. Venus nodded. She was digging around in her top desk drawer for a piece of her favorite spearmint chewing gum.

"Hm. When do you need the job finished?"

"I'll give you week." Venus replied as she found a piece of gum. She deftly unwrapped the thin stick, and stuck it in her mouth with a happy little sigh.

"Done." The rasping voice stated firmly, and with that the connection went dead.

Venus pushed the mirror to the side of her desk, and resignedly picked up the folder Regina had just added to her workload. Oh, the joys of deception and paperwork. The wondrous life as Regina's secretary.

* * *

The group of mages walked down the city streets in silence. Ezra was reading over the paper that Regina had given to her right before they had left the room while the two boys walked along behind her without so much as a single snide comment. If she wasn't already sure Gray was seriously upset than the fact that he wasn't fighting with Natsu would've tipped her off to it big time. Natsu had repeatedly attempted to start a good natured argument with the ice mage to no avail.

Gray just wasn't in the mood for it. He just shuffled down the street with his eyes pined on his own feet and a scowl marring his features.

"So where are we staying tonight?" Natsu asked Ezra. The titania smiled to herself. She should've known Natsu wouldn't be able to endure the uncomfortable silence for long.

"Regina gave me some directions to where ever we're supposed to be rooming for free. It should be just about..." The titania trailed off as she carefully read the gold decals on the iron gates to the manor-like homes that lined the street sides. Suddenly she stopped in front of a large, plain set of black iron cast gates. "Here."

Gray's dark eyes looked up from the road long enough to glance at where they would be staying for the night. The home was huge with white washed walls, stain-glass windows and an unnaturally green lawn. He thought he could see the sparkling of sunlight off of the surface of water just behind the house—probably a pool.

"Looks great!" Natsu exclaimed with his fist pumping into the air.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

Even Gray was unwillingly excited to be staying in such a nice house. There was nothing like a cool dip in a nice pool to relieve tension. Plus big houses had to feed a lot of guests, and therefore, usually had damn good cooks.

"Yes, it's very nice of Lucy to let us stay here." Ezra commented. Despite trying to make her comment sound pleasant it came off as nervous and wooden. The titania wasn't sure how Gray would react to being a houseguest at Lucy's estate.

"Lucy?" Gray asked in a scarily even voice.

Ezra tapped the golden plate, just below the number decal, where Lucy's full name was written out in elegant gold script, "Apparently."

Gray wasn't excited anymore. Of all fucking places they could be sent it just had to be to Lucy's estate. How could he relax when she would be just down the hall or just up the stairs from him at all times? Was fate trying to torture him? It was bad enough that he was going to have to spend the next few months in close proximity with her.

"Can't we crash at a motel instead?" The ice mage proposed.

"And miss out on the pool! No way!" Natsu said already pulling open the unlocked gates, and rushing up the driveway toward the house. Ezra gave Gray an apologetic smile as she followed after their enthusiastic teammate.

"Once again: Thou doth protest too much me thinks." Happy chuckled before taking after the other two.

Gray slouched after his friends while making a mental checklist of all the different ways in which he knew how to kill a cat including vivid mental images involving a certain blue one.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

i. Wow. It's taken me over a month to update this... I'm thoroughly disappointed in myself. This is one of those chapter that is mostly filler meant to tie pieces of the plot line together, and therefore a lot of it was made up on the spot. That took some time because my creative mind didn't want to function. Also I live in Kentucky, and some of you that watch the news may have heard of the flooding crisis we're having. Basically I'm trying to say that I haven't had power for a while, and my yard looks like a lake. I know that you guys don't want excuses, and I can respect that. Free feel to be pissed at me for being a lazy bum.

ii. Regina is being devious! In these next few chapters Regina is going to make poor Lucy and Gray miserable in her attempts to help them. It's going to be entertaining. Hm... I haven't got a lot of chapter commentary this time... How odd. Oh! I do have one thing to say: I forgot about Happy! Someone else noticed his odd disappearance, and then I suddenly remembered him. So that conversation with Natsu was my way of introducing our furry friend back into the plot.

iii. One of my reviewers pointed out that they thought this story was going too fast. I wanted to take this opportunity to let them know that I totally agree with them. I have a really bad habit of rushing the early chapters of stories, and then obsessively drawing out the later ones. Just know that I'm trying to get better. I'm really, really working very, very hard to get lots and lots better. Major kudos to whoever left that review! I appreciate constructive criticism more than anything.

iv. I'm on a huge D. Gray Man kick at the moment. I've been watching the English dub and reading the manga and, of course, scouring FF for some good reading material. If any of you guys could suggest something I'd forever be indebted to you. I have major love for the following characters: Kanda, Cross, Komui, Tyki, and Road. Although I will notably read absolutely anything **as long as it's good **e.g. contains proper grammar and spelling with an interesting and/or amusing premise.

v. A big thank-you you to everyone who has left a review for Watch Dog. This is my first foray into writing a full length piece for Fairy Tail, and I'll admit to being very nervous at the start of this project. You guys have really helped make my transition into the realm of novel writing easier. Much love goes out to all of you!

vi. I'll stop rambling now, and let you get on with your lives. Please click on that little button below here, and drop me a review. I'll hopefully get to babble to you all again at the end of the next installment.

xx. bon vivant

PS. I have spring testing for the next two and a half weeks. This means that updates will continue to be sporadic. But at least summer will soon be here, and with more free time comes a more frequent updating schedule. Yay! :D


	4. Of Home and Pillows

**Watchdog **

**Disclaimer: **Fandom authors are writers of much and owners of little.

* * *

C H A P T E R . T H R E E

* * *

Lucy walked two steps behind Regina the entire way to the luncheon. Her brown eyes were cast down at the ground as if the cobbled stone sidewalk was the most interesting thing she had ever saw. She tried to distract herself from thoughts of her old team, but the effort was futile. They were all she could think about.

Many hours had been dedicated to imagining what her first reunion with her old teammates would be like since she'd learned they would be her guards. Usually she pictured them praising her success, and congratulating her on achieving her dream as they all reminisced and reconnected over wine and pasta. It was supposed to be wonderful and perfect, something that would reinforce her feelings that she'd made the right choice.

Occasionally when her mind was feeling particularly creative and sappy, Lucy had imagined confessing to Gray that she still had feelings for him—feelings that she could see growing into something _interesting_. She envisioned gushing about how much she had missed him, and she always thought that he would return the sediment.

Once she even went as far as to imagine a kiss. Quick, simple, and amazing. Something breathtaking like a moment pulled straight from one of the classic romance novels she was so fond of.

Today's meeting had permanently crushed those fantasies.

Gray had made it quite apparent that he didn't return her feelings—that he possibly never had—and that he pretty much hated her now.

Go figure.

"Chin up, doll." Regina's crisp instruction cut through Lucy's shroud of self-pity. The redheaded woman's words sounded like they could've been a pep talk, but Regina delivered them in a tone that left no room for refusal. So really it was less a pep talk and more a pep demand...

Lucy sighed and plastered on an obviously fake smile. If Regina noticed the hint of sarcasm behind Lucy's actions then at least she didn't bother to comment.

As they approached the restaurant Lucy's mood spiraled even lower. Usually she loved doing anything related to her writing career—she still found it all fascinating—but today it just seemed like a chore. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to a bunch of middle-aged business people babble on about finances and public relations when she was feeling heart broken.

"I don't see why I have to be here." Lucy complained as she jammed her hands down in her pockets. "Not like any of you take my opinion into consideration anyways."

Regina whirled around, shocking Lucy and sending the blond tumbling back a few steps. The older woman looked calm—too calm. Lucy wasn't afraid to admit that it was very scary.

"I've given you everything that you've ever wanted, Lucy." Regina stated, an undercurrent annoyance bled through her tone just enough to make Lucy wince. "I even got you the bodyguards you wanted against my better judgement. Now all I ask is that you attend a few meetings quietly."

"But..." Lucy started protest that it wasn't her fault everything had turned out dreadfully, and that given time to recover from the shock of being betrayed by her first serious crush, she would gladly attend any meetings Regina wanted to drag her to. However, Regina cut her off before she could start.

"Don't do the tortured artist bit, Lucy. Neither of us have time for it. Get yourself to together. The biggest tour of your career to date is right around the corner, and I need you at your best." Regina softly commanded before turning back toward the restaurant.

Lucy followed quietly behind; still unhappy, but properly chastised.

* * *

Gray tried to school his emotions as he laid back on the bed in the guest room he'd been appointed to. He knew that Lucy was just trying to be nice, maybe she was attempting to reconnect with her roots or some sentimental jazz like that, and regardless of her motivations, he was sure she wasn't doing this to hurt him.

But it did hurt.

So far she'd been nothing but cordial. The house staff had assured them that Lucy had personally saw to preparing their rooms. The maid had let it slip how excited Lucy was to have them staying. It was as if she thought nothing would've changed. Like she honestly believed they would just pretend she never abandoned them.

Natsu and Erza might be able to play nice, but Gray couldn't just accept her betrayal. He wouldn't be bought off with nice things or have his opinion swayed simply because Natsu and Erza were willing to let it go. Lucy had left them—left _him—_like they didn't matter. She'd made her choice, and Gray wouldn't be contented with second place. He was going to be angry and upset because he was entitled to it.

The more the ice mage thought about it, the angrier he felt about it. Which was completely counterproductive, but he couldn't stop the bitter feelings from gnawing at his psyche.

He couldn't stop them because the alternative would be accepting letting her step on his heart, and doing something like that might just shatter the ice he shielded himself with.

Gray flipped over, and buried his face into the soft pillow.

It was peaceful surrounded by total darkness and the lingering scent of lilac detergent. He was just starting to drift off to sleep when something soft thumped him in the back of the head.

He blinked and flipped over to see Erza and Natsu grinning with their arms loaded down with pillows. Gray was a smart boy, and recognized trouble when he saw it. They had managed to corner him when he was short on ammunition! Damn! He gave a reluctant smile as he groped for his pillow—At least attacking the hothead would take his mind off Lucy.

"We couldn't attack you with you sleeping!" Natsu shouted as he fluffed his pillow 'menacingly'. "I'm not a douche bag like that. I thought I'd give you a fair chance to prepare before pummeling you!"

"We're going to trash Lucy's house..." Gray hedged as he stealthily tried to tug on his coverlet in order to pull the pillows on the other side of the bed closer.

Erza shook her head solemnly, "We won't destroy her house." The titania's death glare promised that should they make her into liar, they would regret it.

"Yea because this is going to be over quickly." Natsu smirked before lunging toward Gray with his arm drawn back ready to launch the next pillow.

"You're right. It'll only take me a second to kick your ass." Gray agreed sagely as he rolled out of the strike zone, grabbing up pillows as he tumbled across the sheets and into the floor. He just barely managed to scramble to his knees instead of falling backwards.

Natsu crashed onto the bed, and Gray threw a pillow toward the dragon slayer's prone form just as Erza nailed him in the side of the head. The hit sent him reeling backwards toward the nightstand that he just narrowly missed saving it from tipping over.

Recovering quickly he tossed a pillow in Erza's direction with as much force as he could muster. He was distracted with watching Erza deflect his hit, and Natsu managed to beat him in the back with a pillow. Gray did fall face forward onto the floor this time, and was ready to kill Natsu for it.

This was so much better than entertaining those hateful thoughts of Lucy and her betrayal. While fighting he didn't need to feel or think; he needed to act and act fast. He was never more grateful for the flame eating idiot than when he was beating the crap out of him.

* * *

The meeting went by unimaginably slowly. Lucy's eyes never left the clock above the counter which in turn never seemed to move. The clock hands acted as if they were glued down. She felt as if it was going to be two o'clock on Sunday forever.

When the meeting did finally end Lucy was left knowing nothing more about the tour than when she had entered the cafe. She wasn't even really sure what had been discussed. Budget? Locations? Talking Points? PR issues? She couldn't even remember the names of most of the people involved. Yes, she was that spaced out.

But Regina was happy, and Lucy couldn't complain about that.

Once she was finally released from duty, the blond authoress took her sweet time as she walked toward her home. Originally she had thought it was an excellent idea for the team to stay at her place. It would save money and be just like old times. Only it wasn't going to be just like old times. It was going to be painfully awkward for everyone involved.

Back when she had been a member of Fairy Tail she'd been unable to beat them out of her house. Everyday she'd arrived home to an uninvited, but welcome guest. Usually food was cooked. Sometimes things were broken. Occasionally her personal privacy was totally invaded(Natsu apparently didn't know the meaning of diary or Gray the concept of bathroom manners). It was always felt perfect.

Coming home to friendly faces was one of the things she had missed most after she had left. Her mansion always felt empty—totally devoid of the life that had filled her apartment. She'd tried to remedy that by hiring a fantastically friendly staff, but no smile ever felt as warm if you were paying the person wearing it.

But empty was better than malevolent. Well, maybe that was a little melodramatic. Gray's attitude was exactly malevolent. Though there was nothing kind about it either.

'_I'm not going to think about that again.' _Lucy told herself as she pushed open the gate leading to her home and started up the driveway. _'The chance to run away from this has passed. It's time to face the music.' _She thought as she steeled her resolve.

Lucy walked into her house and was immediately made aware of two things

The first was that the entire house seemed to be shaking which wasn't normal at all.

The second was that her maid was cowering behind an umbrella stand looking terrified.

Neither of those things were ever good signs.

Lucy smacked her hand against her forehead as she contemplated what to do. She could always try to diplomatically explain to her friends why they couldn't behave like this in her house. If Regina had taught her anything it was a scary glare and some well placed verbal barbs could be just as good as a beating.

Or she could always go the wholesale slaughter route.

Considering the day she had just endured, and taking into account how pissed and hurt she felt because of Gray, there was really only one option.

Lucy scowled darkly as she reached for a throw pillow off the foyer love seat. She fluffed the pillow menacing between her hands. For once she was glad she'd settled for cheaper pillows in this room for the fabric was hard and rough—in other words, perfect for delivering a pummeling.

As she stormed up the stairs, murderous rage radiating from her tiny form, she called back to her terrified servant, "Cover me if anyone calls. This might take a moment."

"Go get 'em, missus." The green haired maid squeaked then winced when the upper-floor gave a hard shake and she was showered with plaster.

* * *

Work never seemed to end for Venus. The words 'over time' didn't even apply. This had passed from that gray area over into the territory of slave labor. It was nearly ten o'clock at night, and she was still at the office. Though to be fair these were special circumstances.

At least, in this case, Venus wasn't the only one pulling extra time for free. Regina was suffering with her. Although Regina was also the reason she was being forced to suffer so that was kind of a double edged sword.

"Has he summoned yet?" Regina snapped. The red haired woman was pacing opposite of Venus' desk. Regina had one hand waving impatiently through the air to empathize her point and the other gripping a pink cocktail.

Venus glanced down at the whole reason for them still being here: the magic summons mirror. Its surface was completely blank. Her dark eyes narrowed as if to telepathically hurry The Doctor's summon. She wanted to get home to her cats and late night soap operas already dammit!

"Nope." She punctuated this with a pop of her chewing gum.

Regina downed her drink in a single gulp before sitting the glass down with more force than necessary. The thin glass shivered threateningly, but thankfully didn't crack.

"What the hell is taking so long? Does he think I run a twenty-four hour service?" Regina seethed. She thrust her wrist watch in Venus' face, and tapped its little glass face, almost flicking Venus on the nose in the process. "I'm on the clock."

Venus leaned back away from her impatient employer, and quickly resorted to trying to soothing console the woman's fraying nerves. "I know that, Ms. Minx. I'm sure he'll summon us in just a moment."

Regina sighed heavily. She lifted her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose as she resumed her pacing. Venus watched her uneasily for signs that Regina might lose her cool again. Gods, she hoped the man would hurry up. It took a pretty brave(or stupid) individual to keep Regina Minx waiting like this.

Just as Regina whirled around to begin another tangent, the sound of a loud vibration filled the air. Both women simultaneously glanced at the mirror's surface. Waves as black as oil moved across the face of the mirror like polluted water, reverberating out from the center until Venus' reflection was replaced with inky nothingness.

"Ms. Minx. Ms. Cruz. Good evening." A voice rasped from the depths of the mirror.

"Skip the pleasantries. I want to hear an update on my investment." Regina snapped as she strode forward to pick up the hand mirror. The woman's eyes were drawn down into a glare as she faced down the black screen.

Venus watched this, and couldn't help but think, '_Only cowards hide behind a dark curtain. True courage is doing what Ms. Minx is—facing down your opponent and baring your strength.' _No matter how annoyed Venus could get with Regina, in times like this she was always impressed by her.

"Of course you do." The voice agreed complacently. "Unfortunately I have little to say other than I've begun investigating some... How should I say it... _Interesting _events at Fairy Tail."

"What do you mean by interesting events?" Regina asked suspiciously. "Is this something that will interfere with the tour?"

"No. It's the easy fix you're looking for." The voice replied.

Regina smirked, the look of victory that Venus had come to think of as a harbinger of chaos. This was apparently exactly what the agent had wanted to hear.

"Well, that's alright then. Isn't it?" She practically purred as The Doctor severed the connection, and the mirror surface became clear glass once more.

Venus gave the answer that was expected, "Absolutely, Ms. Minx."

But as Regina turned to enter her own office, Venus shook her head slowly. Regina was going to get involved, and cause a complete mess of things. Romance was best left to the couple, meddling from outside sources rarely ended well. But regardless of her opinion, Venus was dedicated to following her employer's instructions to the end.

Idly Venus popped her bubble gum as she grabbed her keys from her desk, and headed out of the office.

* * *

"Ariel Attack!" Natsu shouted followed quickly by Happy's exuberant shout of "Aye." The blue cat grabbed onto the dragon slayer, spouted wings from his back, and went flying from the top landing.

Down below Erza and Lucy were camped out behind the living room couch with a pile of pillows between them. The two shared a look of mutual understanding.

"It is time, princess." Erza nodded solemnly as Lucy grabbed up two of the larger and harder pillows from their stockpile.

The two girls had teamed up against the boys around the same time the fight had moved out of Gray's guest room. The entire mansion had become a battlefield as the teens took out their unspoken feelings through pillows. It gave an all new meaning to the idea of pillow talk.

Just as Natsu dropped his armload of pillows down on the girls, Erza jumped up spinning a gigantic pillow to deflect his raining arsenal. Natsu turned to retreat and reload, but the moment his back was turned Lucy made her move.

"Hai!" The authoress shouted as she launched over the couch, bouncing off the spring loaded cushions for extra height.

"Oh shit." Natsu cursed as Lucy waylaid him with her pillows which she was wielding nunchuk style. Happy's eyes widened with awe as little Lucy managed to knock Natsu hard enough to send him spinning.

The dizzy cat barely managed to avoid colliding with a wall, and was forced to drop Natsu as his wings poofed from existence.

"Lucy's a ninja!" The awe-stuck feline slurred as he stumbled across the carpet before slumping over against the far wall. "I can see spinning fish."

Natsu struggled to get to his feet, but before he could even get to his knees, the girls turned Amazons were on him. Lucy and Erza stood above him eluding death auras, and holding pillows ready to strike. So the dragon slayer resorted to his last option,

"I'll tell you where Gray hiding!" He shouted as he brought his hands up to shield his face. The threatening sounds of pillows being thumped against hands paused.

Cautiously the boy peeked out from between his fingers to see the girls staring intensely at each other. Apparently this was one of those girly wordless exchanges that Gray talked about. Kind of like reading the mood—it was unmanly and he didn't get it.

Finally after a heart stopping moment they turned to face him.

"You'll be rewarded mercy for your information." Lucy said with a smile that made Natsu shiver. You would think that being an author would have made her less scary, but no. That red headed lady had turned Lucy into a monster! He kind of liked it.

"He's hiding in the shower in the downstairs bathroom." Natsu quickly confessed. Let the ice bastard feel Lucy and Erza's wrath.

Natsu's breath caught in his throat as he realized with dawning horror that only Lucy was stomping away toward the bathroom. Erza thumped a pillow once against her hand as she offered Natsu a simpering smile.

"Punishment is now, dragon slayer." She smirked.

He died a little on the inside right as she raised her arm to take the first swing.

* * *

When _she_ had joined the fight things had gotten personal.

Unlike with Natsu he couldn't just punch her in the face until he felt better. Lucy was a girl—a special girl even if she infuriated him—and he wasn't the type to abuse women. Well, unless they were evil or trying to kill him or trying to hurt his nakama.

So beating her with his fists was out, but he could definitely wail on her with a pillow without feeling any moral reservations.

But he wasn't stupid like flame brain. He knew from the moment she partnered with Erza that he couldn't simply beat her up. He needed the perfect opening to strike.

Hitting her with a pillow a few times wouldn't make up for anything. She was still a traitor who had turned her back on her nakama. This wasn't about forgiveness. This was about working out a little of his frustration before he was stuck with her on tour for the next six months.

Using his brilliant planning skills Gray had decided to hide out in the downstairs bathroom as Natsu manned the frontlines. He had managed to stockpile an arragement of pillows in the tub.

Unforchantly most his pillows were from the guest room, and were super soft. They wouldn't do a lot of damage, and definitely weren't as tough as the pillows(see: rocks) the girls had found. He'd just have to throw them a hell of a lot harder.

He was thinking about how to best arrange his pillow for quick lauching access when the sounds of war ceased in the living room. The ice mage strained to hear what was going on. For a few moments there was nothing but silence. His paranoia skyrocketed. He reached for a pillow, clutching the weapon to his chest.

Then Natsu screamed.

The fight was back on. Or the girls were torturing Natsu for his location!

Gray pressed his back firmly against the shower wall waiting for something to happen. He took a deep breath right as the bathroom door slammed open, and a warm body launched through the shower curtain.

A bright purple pillow rammed into his face with enough force to knock his head back against the wall. The pain came immediately, and was followed closely by the sensation of warm blood running out his nose.

His attacker wasn't Natsu or Erza. They fought hard, but if one of them had hit him in the face like that something would've broken. Which meant that his attacker had to be Lucy. He smirked through the pain as she continued to rapidly smack his chest and head with the pillow.

"Pay back is a bitch." Gray growled. He fisted his pillow tightly in his hand, and slammed it into Lucy's abdomen. He didn't hit her full force, but he hit her hard enough to send her careening backwards out of the shower.

Lucy squealed as she hit her ass on the floor tiles. Gray couldn't help, but feel a little bit satisfied with that. However, a little satisfied wasn't enough for him.

Hurriedly he shoved back the shower curtain, and started grabbing for pillows to toss. In a rush he threw every pillow his hands could reach at a rapid fire pace. Lucy shouted and tried to dodge, but the bathroom was small and Gray had the advantage of catching her off guard. She hadn't expected him to have so many pillows! Had he raided her entire top floor?

"I surrender!" Lucy shouted as two pillows smacked her in the face back to back.

She would be damn lucky if she didn't get a black eye out of this. If she did then Regina would just kill them all, and it would be done. Lucy could already hear the woman's rant about bruises being bad for PR.

Gray never slowed down a step. He was enjoying himself for the first time since he learned about this mission. Without thinking about it he was starting to throw the pillows harder and harder. Now each hit that connected carried more than just a soft thump, and Lucy's shouts of protest were escalating.

"Gray that hurts, dammit!" The blond girl cried out. She started to say something else, but a pillow collided with her sternum and knocked the breath from her lungs.

His stockpile had dwindled greatly so Gray reached for his secret weapon: a hard throw pillow he'd gained from Lucy's initial assault earlier that afternoon. Lucy lifted her hands to hid her face from the upcoming blow. Gray prepared to pitch the pillow at her with all his strength.

That was until his eyes finally landed on the blond. For the first time since she'd entered the restroom Gray really saw her. No blinding haze of anger or storm of flying pillows to detract from his view of the girl. His chest clenched tightly as his eyes roved over her cowering figure.

Had he really twisted this game into something that was scaring her?

Gray dropped his last pillow into the empty tub. So much for making her pay. He couldn't stand the idea of hitting her again; not even hitting her with something as soft as a pillow.

The ice mage told himself that he was stopping because he didn't want to accidently hurt a weak girl. Deep inside that nagging little voice that sounded a lot like Happy had a slightly different opinion for why he stopped. That little voice was using words like _suppressed feelings_. _Those _kind of suppressed feelings.

"Stop that. You look pathetic." Gray snapped as he stepped out of the tub, and walked past Lucy toward the bathroom door. "I give up. You win."

"What?" Her voice sounded amazed as she scrambled to get up off the floor.

"Don't act surprised." He sighed as he pushed open the door to his escape. The filter between his mind and his mouth failed for just a moment because Gray couldn't stop himself before he added, "You always win, Lucy. Maybe that's what makes it hurt so much."

Lucy cast her eyes down to the floor as he exited the room, she held her pillow so tightly her knuckles bled white, as she whispered, "If this is winning then I'd rather lose."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank the Deities of Old, the next chapter is done. I won't even bother mentioning how late this is because I'm too ashamed to acknowledge that. However, my New Year's resolution is to work, work, work on this. I even decided not to post this chapter until I had at least 3,000 words written on the next chapter. Luckily my muse has returned full force so that decision didn't hold up this chapter's publication very long at all. I still don't have Beta though; so mistakes may abound. Sorry!

I also attempted humor... I hope _that _wasn't to painful to read.

I appreciate everyone who is reading this. All of you people are crazy amazing. Even those of you who choose to remain anonymous. Though I do really, really love reviews and favorites and alerts. Those things make me feel so special~

So help make a lowly fandom author happy, and show your support by clicking that little button below this message and leaving her a line or two.

Thanks for reading!

Oh and Watchdog is supposedly one word according to my dictionary. I didn't want to confuse people by changing it this chapter, but consider this a heads-up. Next chapter this whole fanfiction will be renamed with the proper spacing. To put it extremely simply 'Watch Dog' is going to become 'Watchdog'.

xx. bon vivant.


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